[An Nahar] Russian security forces have killed seven suspected beturbanned fascisti in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan...a formerly inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca... in an operation that saw the cut-throats briefly take a six-year-old girl hostage, officials said on Saturday.

Security forces surrounded an apartment block in Dagestan's main city of Makhachkala Friday night where the cut-throats were hiding, the National Anti-Terror Committee (NAK) said in a statement published by Russian news agencies.

The rebels opened fire as the other residents were being evacuated, including the wife of one of the cut-throats who was in the besieged apartment, it said.

Security forces returned fire, killing three of the Death Eaters. Those still alive smashed through the wall into a neighboring apartment and took a six-year-old girl there hostage.

"But thanks to the coordinated and professional actions of the special forces, the girl was freed and and remaining bandidos were neutralized," the NAK statement said, using the standard official language for killing Death Eaters.

It said the security forces killed six people inside the apartment block and another suspected Death Eater who opened fire outside.

One of those killed was the chief of the criminal group named as Gadzhimurad Dolgatov, it said. The group had been planning robberies and murders in Makhachkala, it added.